In Garden Glen, “prim, pastel houses, each one like the next,” line the streets, except for “one tumbledown house on a scruffy hill at the edge of town.” That’s the place Millie Fleur La Fae and her mom move into. Millie Fleur loves her new home, but one thing is missing—fortunately, Mom has brought seeds and Millie Fleur springs into action. She fills her new garden with plants like fanged fairy moss, sore toothwort, and tentacled tansy. Grumpy gillyflower and glowing jack-in-the-bush.
Of course, “picture-perfect” Garden Glen’s Rosebud Club finds the garden odd, unruly, and unacceptable. But Millie Fleur believes her “wild, weird little garden” is special, and when she brings her class home for a tour, they agree! Before long, “bits of Millie Fleur’s garden [begin] to take root all over town,” and Garden Glen is, happily, “forever transformed.”
Packed with puns, wordplay, and an appreciation of the off-kilter, MILLIE FLEUR’S POISON GARDEN is a delightful celebration of individuality, and the joys of following one’s own passions. It’s also about standing up for what you think is right. Mandin’s text is clear and clever, and the same can be said of her digital illos, which have their own punny references and imbue the plants with plenty of personality. There are faces everywhere and Millie Fleur’s frog sidekick adds a nice touch.
MILLIE FLEUR’S POISON GARDEN is dark—but not really. Like the titular garden, this book celebrates the “wonderfully weird” in a cozy, accessible way.
--Lynn
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